tating name, age, and occupation, and other
facts of personal identity. Failure to produce and exhibit this when
called upon renders anyone liable to arrest and imprisonment. This
paper is obtained from the internal revenue office annually, on
payment of a certain sum, varying, according to the occupation and
income of the person from $0.75 to $20.00, and averaging about $3.00
for each adult. An extra sum of 2 per cent. is paid for expense of
collection. The tax is collected at the Tribunal in each pueble,
and 20 per cent. is retained for expenses of local administration,
and 80 per cent. paid to the General Treasury. This tax falls heavily
on the poor and lightly on the rich. The tax on industry and commerce
is similarly graded according to the volume of business transacted by
each merchant or merchantile corporation. The tax on real estate is
absurdly low and levied only on municipal property and on the rent,
not the value.

The tax on imports is specific and not ad valorum; it amounts to
about 13 per cent. of estimated values. The free list is very small,
nearly everything of commercial value which is imported being subject
to duty. The revenue from imports has increased from $566,143 in 1865,
to $3,695,446 in 1894. It was about the same in 1897. On the other
hand the export tax, which was nothing in 1892, the loading tax,
which was nothing in 1893, and the unloading tax, which was nothing
in 1894, have all been increased in the last few years in order to
meet the expenses of suppressing the insurrection. These three items
yielded nearly $2,700,000 in 1897.

The monopoly of importing and selling opium is sold, by auction, to
the highest bidder for a term of three years. The present contract
runs until 1899, and yields $48,000 per month.

Every legal document must be drawn up on paper containing a revenue
stamp, engraved and printed in Spain, and every note, check, draft,
bill of exchange, receipt or similar document must bear a revenue
stamp in order to be valid. These stamps and stamped paper yielded
a revenue of $646,000 in 1897.

The lottery is conducted by the Government--the monthly drawings
taking place in the Treasury (Hacienda) Department. The sale of
tickets yielded $1,000,000 over and above prizes in 1897.

In a report to General Merritt, on August 29th, I recommended that
the opium contract be cancelled and the lottery abandoned during our
occupation of Manila; and as the poll tax and the tax on indu